Bottle crate



H. H. GERDING El AL BOTTLE CRATE Filed March 50 Feb. 16 1926.

n 4%/ AJ 5V K .7 ,Y i O 8 Il) li l Patented F eb. 716, 19265" UNI-TEDSTATES 'YPATENT OFFICE. I

HERBERT H. GERDING, OF NEWPORT, AND EDVARD A. GERDING, OF FORT THOMAS,

- KENTUCKY l :BOTTLE CRATE.

Application filed March 30, 1925.. A Serial'No. 19,401.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be 1t known that We, HERBERT l-I. GERD- ING and EDWARD A. GERDXNG,citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at

Newport and at Fort Thomas, in the county of Campbell and State ofKentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BottleCrates, ot which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to reinforced crates or boxes, and more especiallyto crates or boxes ol composite Wood and metal construction, such, forexample, as are used for carrying and storing milkbottles. Its object isto simplify and increase the ell'ectiveness of construction of Suchdevices, whereby they may be constructed with a minin'mm of expense formate-rial and labor and be rigid and durable enough to withstand thesevere usage to which such crates, boxes.. or the like' are usuallysubiected.' Other' objects Will appear in the course of t-he ensuingdescription,

vWe attain these objects by the device illustrated, for example, in theaccompanyiug drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a general'perspective viewof a milk-bottle crate embodying our invention, part or the near sideand parts of the interior constructionbeing brokenaway better to revealthe interior corner construction f Fig. 2 is a detail perspective Viewof one of the outer corner members;

Fig. 3 is a similar vieu7 of one of th inner corner members;

Fig. i is a partial horizontal cross-section on the plane of the line4-4 of Fig. 5; Fig. 5 is a partial vertical lengthwise section on theplane of the line 5 5 Vof Fig. 4; and

F ig. 6 is apartial perspective view cor responding -to Fig. 1, showinga modification.

In the example of Fig. 1, each side wall 1 is made up of a bottom slat2, two intermediate slats 3, and a top slat 4; and each end wall 5 ismade up of a bottom slat 6, two intermediate slats7, and a top slat 8.

top slats 8 may be grasped as handles, in lift- Amg the crate. The otherslats preferably are not spaced so l'ar apart, `and the three lower onesare consulter-'ably wider.

Each side slat overlaps the end oi the 'cmrespomllng end slat, at eachcorner of the crate (Fig. fl). Usually it has been necessary to nail theboards or slats together at the corners, vin prior eratesi lVe' avoidnailing by' combining with the wooden slats suitable outer and innersheet metal corner men'ihers. 'lhe outer corner member, 9 (Fig. 2). ispressed into the shape ot an` angle bar with top and bottom inturnedflanges 1() integral with the respecti ve legs ol. the. angle and witheach other and'adajited to overlap the top and bottom edges ot the sideand end wall slats 4 andl 8 and 2'and 6, respectively, when the cornermember.9 lits snugly against the outer surfaces of the slats.

At suitable intervals, the legs ot the anglobar shaped corner member 9are slitted inwardly .from their vertical edges and material betweenyslits is turned inward at right 'angles to the respective legs, forminga pair of lower tongues 11-,'a pair ot intermediate tongues 12, and apair of upper .tongues 13, corresponding to 'the spaces between theslats. The? vertical dimension of each tongue lis greater than the widthot the space to which it corresponds; and the slats have gains 14 cut intheir edges, receiving the top or vbottom end parts, as the ease may be,of the respective tongues (Fig. In the material of'each leg between theturned 4in tongues, holes 15 are puncheda through which rivets 16 pass,extending in through the respective slats.

The inner corner member 17 (Fig. 3) also is pressed into the shape of anangle bar; and its top end is pressed inward to form the stacking guide18, adapted to extend above the upper edge of the crate. somewhat oi'setinwardly, when this inner member .fits snugly 'against the inner surfaces of the slats, at a corner, with the plain lower end of` thismember 17 substantially flush with the lower edge of the crate. Therivets 16 pass through holes 19 in the inner corner members; and beingheaded inside and outside, bind the outer members 9 and inner members 17firmly together, with the slats between them firmly held from up anddown movement or endwise movement, not only by these rivets but by thetongues 11, 12 and 13 fitting snugly in the gains or recesses 14 of theslat edges. Also, this fitting of the tongues in the gains, as well asthe fitting of the slat end parts together, prevents up and down weavingor diagol'nal distortion of the structure. The tongues 11, 12 and 13preferably are as long transversely as the thickness of the slats, so.that their inner edges abut the inner corner members 17. For finishedappearance the inner member 17 has recesses 2O and 21 Ain its verticaledges, yregistering with the respec. tive spaces between slats, so thatthe inner edges of these recesses 20 and 21 and the inner ends of thetongues 11,]12 andv13 come close together.

In the modification of Fig. 6 the only difference is that the slats 2',3', and 4 ofthe side walls 1 andthe slats 6, 7 and 8A of the end walls 5are so wide that their edges are very close together or abutting.However, the 'middle parts of the lower edges of. the top end slats 8are recessed to form hand holes 22. Only parts of one end\,

and one side l`of this modi-fied crate or box are shown; but it will beunderstood that the. remainder of the structure is similar to thatshown. If Ventilating openings are desired in the sides of the crate,edges of slats may be recessed, as is well known in the art. ln theexample of Fig. 1, ample ventilation is afforded by spacing the slatsapart, and a much lighter crate is thereby afforded, with considerablesaving of lumber. This saving is not merely proportional tothe widths ofthe spaces; the narrower strips of lumber may beobtained at a much lowerrate than the wider boards usually employed in such crates, as forexample only one or two pieces to a side or end.- In the interest ofeconomy and lightness, therefore, we prefer the narrow slat constructionof Fig. 1; but even with the wider abutting boards 01 slats of Fig. 6,the lower cost of the narrow lumber permits a saving. In ,eitherconstruction, the gains 14 of Fig. 1, or thevgains 14 of Fig. 6, whichare deeper due t'o the increased' widths of the sla-ts, are cut veryrapidly with a cross'cut saw, or with two saws spaced to cut the gainsin both en-d parts of a strip at one passage. The sheet metal cornermembers 9 and 17 are readily formed by means of relatively simple toolequipment, and need not be of great thickness, as is necessary .in someprior corner reinforcements in order to be effective. .Thus We save bothin the wood construction and in y themetal corner attachment.

ln Fig. 1'We haveillustrated partially an interior bottle supportingconstruction well known in the art, comprising longitudinal andtransverse partition rods 23 and 24.y having their ends fastened lin endwall and side Wall slats, respectively, and longitudinal support rods 25with their ends fastened in the bottomslats 6 of the end walls. As

shown, the outermost ones of these support rods pass through. openings25l and 25 in the bottom parts of the outer corner member 9 and theinner corner member 17, respectively. As these interior details are notessential parts of our invention, and any other suitable interior bottle,supporting structure may be substituted in conjunction with ourimproved wall and corner construction, most of each rod has beenomitted, so

as not to obscure the illustration of the inner corner construction inFig. 1..

'lhe effectiveness of the corner members, with the outer corner membertongues in the gains of the slats, to resist up and down weaving Aof thestructure has been noted. Although the metal of the tongues isrelatively thin, the tongues are able to resist that action by virtue oftheir close fitting in the gains 14, so that for such movement to occur,the tongues must be twisted very close to their junctions with the mainpart of the member 9, where they have almost the full reinforcement ofthe main part edgewise.

tongue firmly fitting in the end 'slat gain- 14, the outer corner member9 resists such sidewise weaving in tension, at each corner where thismovement would result in reducing the angle between the end and sidewalls.

Of course such resistance as the inner members 17 have is added to theresistance of the outer members 9; and the inner members may havesuitable diagonal bracing',.as for example, ribs such as shown .andclaimed inour copending application', Serial No. 8,906, filed February13,A 1925. Butwhere omissionof such interior bracing is desirable, toavoid obstruction to ready insertion of bottles'in the cornercompartments of the4 crate, we provide for that without impairing therigidity of the crate; and by doing this with metal in tension therequired amount of metal is minimized, with the.

benefits of lightness and economy before alluded to.

ln al crate made up of relatively narrow slats or boards, either as inFig. 1 or as in l`ig. 6, expansion or swelling of the wood Lup and downis amply compensated for, because the swelling of each narrow Slat orboard is not so great, and is not added to that of the other boards orslats, because of the space between theboards or slats, even where theseare close together as in Fig. 6. Having only one rivet at each end of aslat facilitates this, as the slat can swell each way from its rivet. y

The crate is very readily assembled. ,By reference to Fig. 4 it willbeseen that the side wall slat 3 may have its end brought in between theinner ends of the tongues 11 and 12 at the side and the inner surfacesof the tongues 1l and 12 at the end, and then lbe pressed out inbroadside direction, with the side tongues 11 and 12 ente-ring its gains14 as seen in Fig. 5. 'lhen the end wall slat 7 simply Ais brought withits end against the side wall slat, and pushed out, receiving the endtongues 11 yand 12 in its gains 14. All of the corresponding slats thusare readily assembled with the corner members 9 in this manner; andthen, after the inner members 17 are positioned, and a few of the rivets16 inserted to hold these inner members in place, the crate is heldassembled for completion of the riveting and securing of the interiorbottle support rods 23, 24 and 25, orother` equivalent structure, partor all of which may have been attached to the slats before assemblingthem with the corner members as above described.

Of course the number and dimensions of the slats may vary, and `thenumber of tongues and other details of the corner members may varyaccordingly, and numerous other modifications besides those alluded toherein may occur, as well as adaptation of our improved construction toboxes, crates Y- or the like for purposes other than containing milkbottles.

Therefore, we do not wish to be understood as being limited to theprecise disclosure herein, but having thus fully described a preferredembodiment ofour invention, as is required, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bottle crate, upright wall members assembled to .form a cornerof the crate, each of oblong vertical cross-section with its narrowedgesl horizontal and having a transl Averse recess in one of saidhorizontal edges .near said corner, said recess terminating short of theopposite narrow edge,and a corner member lapping around the corneroutside said wall members and having extensions in the respectiverecesses.

Q. In a bottle crate, a plurality of upright series of wall membersassembled to form a corner of the crate, each of oblong verticalcross-section with its narrow edges horizontal and having a transverserecess in one of said horizontal edges near said corner opening outtoward the other member of the series, said recess terminating short ofthe opposite narrow edge of the respective member, and a corner memberlapping around the corner outside said wall members and havingextensions one of which fits between the wall members of one series inthe recesses thereof, and' another of which fits between the wallmembers of the other series in the recesses thereof.

In a bottle crate, a plurality of upright series of wall membersassembled to form a corner of the crate, each having a recess in itshorizontal edge near said corner opening kout toward the other member ofthe'series, and a corner member` lapping around the corner outside saidwall members and having extensions, certain ones of which fit betweenthe wall members ot' the respective series in the recesses thereof, andcertain other of which extensions lie along the outer sides of therespective wall members, these other extensions being secured to saidwall members, beyond said recesses from said corner.

4. "in a bottle crate, a plurality of upright sei-lesbi wall membersassembled to form a corner of the crate, each of oblong verticalcross-section with its narrow edges horizontal and having a transverserecess opening out through its edge toward another member of the seriesnear said corner, said recess terminating short of the opposite narrowedge of the wall member, and a corner member of sheet metal pressed intoangle-bar shape and having its upright edges along the respective seriesof wall members slitted at intervals, alternate portions between slitsbeing turned inward on lines longitudinal of the corner member, forminga series of extensions on the respective legs of the angle-bar shape,each extension of one of said series having its upper and lower endparts .fitting in adjacent recesses of one of said series of wallmembers, and each extension-of the ,other series having its upper andlower end parts fitting in adjacent recesses ofthe other series of wallmembers, and the remaining portions of said corne-r members betweenslits being fixed to the upright sides of the respective wall members. 4

5. In a bottle crate, upright wall members assembled to form a corner ofthe crate, members at one side of said corner being in upright serieswith their adjacent edges separated, leaving a space, each member of theseries having a transverse recess in one of its horizontal edges nearsaid corner opening out toward the other member of the series, saidrecess terminating short of the opposite narrow edge of the respectivemember, an outereorner member lapping around ner surfaces of said wallmembers' and sethe corner outside said Wall members and ouredfthereto,and lapping close to the inner having extensions one of which fitsbetween end of said extension at said inner surfaces,` 10 said membersof said series in the recesses to `exclude foreign substances from thespace 5 thereof and extends substantially to the inbetween the cornermembers.

ner surfaces of said Wall members, and an HERBERT H. GERDING. innercorner member fitting against; the in- EDWARD A. GERDING.

